


The Tale of Blossoming Flowers

by his-spare-hats (JesterFesta)



Series: Tales that remained untold [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cherry Blossoms, Friendship, Gilgardyn, my favorite bros tbh, soft bbys, their sass tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 07:32:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14397267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesterFesta/pseuds/his-spare-hats
Summary: Ardyn and Gil go to see the cherry blossoms Ardyn keeps talking about and Gil can't believe they're actually doing this





	The Tale of Blossoming Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> entry for day 1 - "cozy" (cherry blossoms) of ardyn yescon week on tumblr! if it doesn't contain noncon and displays a healthy relationship everything should be fine, right?  
> Hope you enjoy!! ^o^  
> [still: WE NEED MORE GILGARDYN PLEASE?!???]

"I can't believe you decided to stray off the perfect path we had planned only to go to...where was it again?”

Ardyn pursed his lips at his companion's lack of enthusiasm. “A little village near the Malacchi Hills. I used to go there every year when I was a child and you act like it's going to be like taking a stroll around the lower ring in the capital.”

“How else am I supposed to react? You always do things like these that create nothing but trouble.”

“And _you_ always oppose those little adventures. At least _I_ am fun to be around, Gil.”

“Fun to be- sure you are.” Ardyn did not have to look to know his friend was rolling his eyes. They would get there at any moment now, it was just behind the hill and the young man started getting excited again. He could not wait to get there yet Gilgamesh could only shake his head. “What are these...trees even to make you want to go there so bad?”

“They are beautiful. If I might add, unlike you, my friend.”

“Your loose tongue might want to take that back after thinking it over.”

Ardyn could only give him a haughty smirk. “Maybe it doesn't though.”

Gilgamesh sighed and pushed a bunch of leaves aside only to come to a halt, all annoyance replaced by wonder and the Healer crossed his arms, eyes turning soft at the scenery.

“You were right”, the knight whispered quietly, “it actually _is_ stunning.”

“Heh”, Ardyn huffed but his voice was calm and quiet as if all worries had just vanished from his life. “Would I ever lie to you?”

“Well, _I_ wouldn't know.” The reply was late by a few heartbeats when the white-haired was still busy taking in the sight of all the blossoming trees. Light pink and white, a whole valley of it.

They didn't really say anything else, wordlessly making their way down the hill and through the forest, looking at each and every tree as if it was entirely different from the previous one.

Ardyn sometimes glanced at Gilgamesh to make sure the other wasn't bored but there was no need to. He looked around with eyes sparkling like Somnus' did whenever they had Ulwaat Berry cake back at home. It was rare for the Shield to let his emotions shine through like that and it warmed Ardyn's heart.

Gilgamesh on the other hand liked to steal glances at the future King as he let his fingers run over the knobby tree trunks or the softer young branches of a tree. The nature was healthy and well here, not a trace of the vanishing sickness. Little insects were flying around and every now and then the cry of a chocobo could be heard – Ardyn smiled brightly every time that happened. Gilgamesh decided to get him a chocobo sooner or later; not that it mattered. He could get a hundred chocobos once he was King anyway.

They didn't really take the time into account but at some point Gilgamesh couldn't ignore the shadows growing longer and longer. “It is time to go”, he whispered almost wistfully and Ardyn only hummed half agreeing half complaining as his fingers closed around a branchlet of the tree he was standing at. There was no time to ask when he had already plucked the flower from it's stem and Gilgamesh let out a yelp.

“What are you doing?! Heavens, how dare you pluck it?”

Ardyn turned in confusion. “Because it's pretty? Too pretty to let it wilt away here anyway.”

“Removing it killed it”, the Shield retorted pointing at the little flower and for a moment – really just a moment – Ardyn thought he might cry within seconds. “It will wilt much faster now.”

The Healer took a whiff, lips curling into a smile right away. “Well, it's too late to scold me now, don't you think?”

“Whatever, let's just go and find someplace safe. Would not want to paint the trees with our blood due to the beasts. It's an hour to get to the next camp on our map.”

“Let me tell you Sabertusks are horrible painters anyway. Let's go.”

So they went.

An hour and a half later – one does not simply let Ardyn lead the way – they finally arrived and Gilgamesh put down their baggage with a groan while the other lit a fire, sharing their tasks like they always did. Twenty more minutes and the last sunlight vanished, Gilgamesh taking out his book with Ardyn squinting a little.

“You're writing about today? What, we went to see the cherry blossoms? It was pretty like your King to be? We didn't do anything apart from that, did we?” The white-haired made a face at the other's shameless self-praise tapping his pencil against the rough paper.

“How could I grasp that beauty with words though?”

“You can just list the things that make me stunning. It might take a little longer but at least you'll be busy-”

“The flowers, _young master_.”

“Ew, there you go again. Don't write anything, here give me that.” Without actually waiting for him to hand over the book Ardyn snatched it from Gilgamesh's hands and grabbed the unharmed flower he had plucked before. He then put it between two pages and without Gilgamesh having a say in anything slammed the book shut with a bang.

“My book!!”

“There was nothing interesting in there anyway”, Ardyn remarked but his face fell when he saw the honest and unconcealed devastation in his friend's eyes. “Hey, I'm just pressing it. It won't wilt and you'll have a memory, alright? No need to be over the top, you got me scared there for a second.”

Pressing? Why would Gilgamesh need a memory, he could just- “We should go there again sometime soon”, he mumbled quietly causing Ardyn to halt yet again. What was the Shield saying?

“Gil, uhm, you see, they won't bloom anymore when we get back.”

 _...What?_ “It's not even four days, how could they not bloom then?”, he tried to laugh it off but Ardyn's compressed lips formed nothing more than a thin line.

“I'm serious, they are...they don't bloom for more than a few days maybe. They are but a fleeting moment of beauty. Fragile and graceful. My mother once taught me-” He avoided Gilgamesh's disbelieving eyes and devoted his attention to plucking the grass to his feet. “-they are blooming powerfully and then they are gone. She said it's a visual reminder that we and our lives, too, are nothing but an ephemeral fantasy.” The Healer glanced at his friend and tried to put on a smirk. “A depressing bedtime story, isn't it?”

Gilgamesh shook his head taking a deep breath. “I still want to go. They can't _all_ die at once, right? There were so many!”

The careful smirk turned into a knowing smile. “Those trees did things to you, didn't they? You totally fell for their beauty.”

“Well, one of us has to give them the appreciation they deserve, don't you think?”

A short moment of silence during which Ardyn yawned and made himself comfortable on his sleeping place. “I'm too tired to argue about that now.”

“The first win in days”, the other mused with the hint of an own smile.

“It will be your last. We can go back right after healing all of that village thing, yeah?”, Ardyn muttered already sounding like he was half-asleep. Falling asleep within seconds ran in the family, Gilgamesh had noticed that from day one, so he snuggled into his own blanket and stared at the closed book where the flower was being pressed. _Nothing but a fleeting moment. Yet an impact for eternity._ He had to go back there.

“We have a deal.”

 

“I do not mean to sound impatient, great Healer, but if you could hurry up a little that would be great.”

Ardyn snorted at his Shield's politeness and the absolutely unrelated scowl on his face. “Look, I know your cherry blossom girlfriends want to meet up again but I am doing my best, Mister I-do-not-have-mysterious-powers-of-light-but-dare-complaining.” He then turned towards the elderly woman he was treating, the light surrounding her seeming to flow back into Ardyn's fingertips when he smiled warmly. “You are good to go, milady.”

“I can not thank you enough, great Healer, how can I ever-”

“Ardyn”, the other interrupted, a playful glint to his eyes. “Just call me Ardyn and we are good, yes?”

“Y-yes...s-sir...I mean, A-Ardyn.” She bowed her head in a hurry and turned to leave with a smile of her own. Ardyn never got enough of those warm and kind smiles, he never wanted to stop giving or receiving them. It was the best reward he could get.

Gilgamesh, however, seemed to drown in boredom as the hours passed by and almost looked aggravated when Ardyn said it was of no use to leave the down at night. They had to wait for morning to come to move back to the capital city and seeing how exhausted the Healer was, Gilgamesh could only give in and rest by his side.

It was raining that night.

Ardyn could almost hear his friend's thoughts, it was visible in his eyes. Were the trees alright? Were they still blooming? But Ardyn decided not to mention the topic. Sometimes, things that could bring down one's mood should remain unsaid.

But not saying them does not make them any less true. So, hours of walking later, they were back again. Back on the small hill. Back at the sea of trees. Back at that one place that had Gilgamesh finally drop his overly serious mask without much effort. Ardyn would never forget this again. But the place had changed, just like he had said.

No more flowers. Pink and white petals were scattered on the ground that had grown muddy through the unrelenting rain and the trees were, well, not the same. Some flowers were holding on, courageously, bravely. But they still looked somewhat damaged and sad. Ardyn watched as his Shield reached out for one of them only to make it fall apart by his mere touch. “My, what a depressing scene”, he muttered as he made his way towards the white-haired and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

“They are all gone”, Gilgamesh whispered, recalling what Ardyn had told him the other day, “Nothing but a fleeting moment of beauty.”

“Come on, they will return. They always do. And-” He took out Gilgamesh's travel book and handed it to him. “In the book they'll always remain.”

The Shield opened it, fingers brushing over the rough texture of the flower inside. “In the book they remain.” He nodded to himself as if coming to a conclusion in his thoughts. “I will write it all down. Everything important. To make every moment last even just a bit longer.”

A confused and mocking but also kind of proud smirk tugged at Ardyn's lips. “How knightly of you, my dear friend.” Gilgamesh replied by simply raising a brow before leaving the scene, back turned towards the forest and he did not turn to make sure Ardyn was there. He knew he would be anyway. “Gil, you are always leaving all the sad stuff behind like that. It might be unhealthy for you”, the Healer noted but Gilgamesh was not impressed.

“I am spending my days with you, what could be more sad?”

And the mood lifted as it always did. Those were the times Ardyn enjoyed the most, right after those after healing the sick in the villages: fun and playful. He hoped it would never stop.

 

That evening when Ardyn had already fallen asleep, Gilgamesh reached for his book, looking at the now flat flower once more before turning the page and beginning to write.

_Today, Ardyn and I went to see the flowers again but most of them were gone. I am now glad he plucked one the other day. Maybe by killing it he saved it from a greater doom. It is sad, but at least that one was spared. One was preserved. Ardyn always does things like that – planning ahead, taking the future into consideration. Saving._

_So, with this book, I, too, shall start thinking of what is to come. This book will be one of my tasks as his Shield. It is no longer about the travels of two young men. It is the story of someone who will always shine in history books as a great man and friend. Fleeting yet, at the end of the day, all that remains._

_This is the story of the Healer Ardyn Izunia._

 

 


End file.
